By Michael Piwowarski
board of trustees meeting, which was held remotely via Zoom.
(Michael Piwowarski/News Director)
UNIVERSITY CENTER – The Delta College board of trustees approved new certificates and planned for the Pioneers’ future, from the comforts of their homes.
On Tuesday, April 14, the trustees held their second virtual meeting on Zoom in accordance with temporary revisions to the Open Meetings Act to allow for public bodies to meet via teleconference.
College president Jean Goodnow announced in her administrative report that Delta has received federal grant funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The total amount allocated to Delta is $5.146 million.
Education secretary Betsy DeVos announced on April 9 that more than $6 billion would be distributed to colleges and universities across the country to provide emergency funding for students whose academic lives were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under federal guidelines, at least half of the money Delta is receiving must be used as emergency financial aid for students, while the rest is to be used to prevent, prepare and respond to the coronavirus, as Goodnow elaborated.
At the meeting, the Collegiate asked the board if Delta intends to reimburse or offer help to students who have had to spend money on supplies – such as webcams and laptops – to properly take online courses.
In response, Goodnow stated that the college is looking into this issue and is discussing how to utilize their federal funds to offer help to students.
“That is an item that we will be discussing with our administrative staff,” Goodnow said. “[…] All of the details have not been worked out yet.”
The board also approved two new certificate programs: Deaf Studies – Advanced Certificate and Instrumentation Electrician – Associate in Applied Science, which will be effective fall 2020.
The Deaf Studies program at Delta has recently collaborated with the Electronic Media program to create video content for American Sign Language classes, as the Collegiate reported back in March.
“This particular program has created a couple new courses and otherwise these are courses that have been running in other curriculums,” said Ginny Przygocki, dean of career education.
The new Instrumentation Electrician program is seen as a welcome addition to Delta’s skilled trades offering.
“This is an area where we had employers in the area that were asking Delta to put this program together [as far back as three years ago],” Goodnow said.
Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) was cited as a major employer that wanted Delta to implement an Instrumentation Electrician program, as up until now, people have had to go out of state to get training in this area.
“This particular program had a large number of pieces of equipment purchased in prior years through grant money,” said Przygocki. “Currently, we are all set and we have offered some of the courses that will now lead to this degree.”
More information on the Board of Trustees and their meeting schedule is available at their page on Delta’s website. Until further notice, future meetings will be held virtually on Zoom.
